First Aid for Dora
The story begins with Ukridge's plan to get his friend Dora a job by sending her to interview the famous author, Mrs. Muriel, for Woman's Sphere magazine. However, things don't go as planned when the narrator, who is sent in Dora's place, meets Mrs. Muriel and discovers that she has been playing him all along. The narrator describes his meeting with Mrs. Muriel, where he tries to praise her work but ends up sounding foolish due to his lack of knowledge about her novels. He realizes too late that she is not what she seems and that she has been manipulating him from the start. Meanwhile, Ukridge is oblivious to the narrator's misadventure and is instead celebrating Dora's good fortune in finding a new job. However, when the narrator confronts him with his discovery, Ukridge reveals that he had already heard about Dora's new opportunity and had decided not to pursue it further. The story ends with the narrator feeling frustrated and disappointed by the whole experience, while Ukridge remains cheerful and unaware of the trouble he has caused.
By P. G. Wodehouse · First published 1924 · Genre: Fiction, Humor, Short Stories · 8,974 words
First lines
Never in the course of a long and intimate acquaintance having been shown any evidence to the contrary, I had always looked on Stanley Featherstonehaugh Ukridge, my boyhood chum, as a man ruggedly indifferent to the appeal of the opposite sex. I had assumed that, like so many financial giants, he had no time for dalliance with women -- other and deeper matters, I supposed, keeping that great brain permanently occupied. It was a surprise, therefore, when, passing down Shaftesbury Avenue one Wednesday afternoon in June at the hour when matinée audiences were leaving the theatres, I came upon him assisting a girl in a white dress to mount an omnibus.
What this Textopian page supports
First Aid for Dora is listed on Textopian as a novella by P. G. Wodehouse, dated 1924 CE.
This source record anchors work identity, reading entry points, and catalog context for checking claims about the work.
- Work type: Novella
- Author: P. G. Wodehouse
- Date: 1924 CE
- Language: English
- Genres: Fiction, Humor, Short Stories
- Length: 8,974 words
- Structure: 1 section, 214 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Fairly Easy (7th Grade)
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- Work identity for First Aid for Dora by P. G. Wodehouse
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- Genre and topic classification from the Textopian catalog
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Discussion starters
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Similar titles
- The Rough Stuff by P. G. Wodehouse
- No Wedding Bells For Him by P. G. Wodehouse
- The Politeness Of Princes by P. G. Wodehouse
- The Level Business Head by P. G. Wodehouse
- The Babe And The Dragon by P. G. Wodehouse
- A Woman Is Only A Woman by P. G. Wodehouse
Genres
- Fiction — This book is a fictional story about characters in imagined events
- Humor — P. G. Wodehouse is renowned for his humorous narrative style, typically featuring farcical circumstances
- Short Stories — This book is an anthology of Wodehouse's different tales, each distinct narrative presented as a standalone short story
Tags
humor · comedy · fiction · British literature · satire · romance · adventure · lighthearted · character-driven · social commentary · early 20th century · witty